Still not sure who Ahsoka villain Marrok is, months after the Star Wars series’ debut? Don’t worry: we’ve got you covered.
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Ahsoka’s Enigmatic Villain Marrok, Explained
Marrok is arguably Ahsoka‘s most mysterious character. Nobody ever discusses the black armored warrior’s backstory, and – shrill death shriek aside – he never utters a word. Even so, there’s quite a bit we can infer about Marrok from conceptual clues scattered through Ahsoka Season 1’s eight-episode run. First and foremost, we know that Marrok was once one of the Galactic Empire’s Jedi-hunting Inquisitors. How? Because he wields one of the red-bladed, spinning, double-bladed lightsabers used exclusively by the Inquisitorius. Plus: the official Star Wars databank’s Marrok profile says so.
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The Star Wars databank also confirms something else about Marrok strongly hinted at in Ahsoka Season 1: his mercenary status. Most fans assumed that Marrok served Morgan Elsbeth for money (or some other reward), rather than out of loyalty to her or the Imperial Remnant. The baddie’s profile proves them right. Either way, Marrok’s name hints at his ties to Elsbeth. In Arthurian legend, Sir Marrok is a knight (indirectly) in Morgan Le Fay’s service. He’s also a werewolf until the spell on him is broken – something else obliquely referenced in Ahsoka, during Marrok’s death scene.
Why Does Marrok Turn to Smoke When He Dies In Ahsoka?
While Marrok’s life story is full of unexplained gaps, his death is basically one big question mark. The ex-Inquisitor is seemingly vaporized by Ahsoka Tano’s fatal lightsaber strike, whooshing out of his armor like a big, green space fart. This is presumably a nod to Sir Marrok being freed from the werewolf curse upon him, but how does it jibe with Star Wars canon? There’s currently no official explanation, but theories abound. As Elsbeth was a Nightsister, some fans believe Marrok was a corpse reanimated using her Dark Side magick. Some folks think this makes Marrok a Nightbrother, although the database doesn’t list him as such.
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Director Peter Ramsey made matters even murkier in an interview with IGN, admitting that not even he fully understood what Marrok’s deal was. “I was like, ‘What is Marrok?” Ramsey recalled. “Is he human? Is he kind of more machine than man, like how Darth Vader used to be described sometimes?’… I was like, ‘It would be great if something could burst out of him.’ Like, what would be his version of antifreeze or whatever it is? Because it couldn’t be blood.” What’s more, Ramsey also noted that Marrok’s demise was decidedly less dramatic in Ahsoka Episode 4’s script, with the green mist element devised later.
Ahsoka Season 1 is currently streaming on Disney+. Season 2 is in production, but does not yet have a release date.
